It’s the first Friday of the month — the day economists, investors, and policymakers usually stop what they’re doing and pore over the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ monthly jobs report. But today, there’s nothing. No jobs numbers. No unemployment rate. No wage data.
For the first time in years, the BLS will not release its highly anticipated monthly snapshot of the U.S. labor market — and the White House is blaming the government shutdown.
According to the administration, BLS employees are among the thousands of federal workers furloughed during the ongoing shutdown. As a result, the agency isn’t publishing anything — not just the jobs report, but any labor data.
The timing raises questions.
In 2019, during the last major government shutdown, the BLS still managed to release its jobs report on schedule. But this time? Full stop. What’s changed? For one, the political environment.
President Trump has spent months lashing out at the BLS as jobs data has increasingly shown signs of trouble for the economy. When a report earlier this year came in weaker than expected, he declared, “The numbers are rigged.” He’s also claimed the agency is “stuffed with deep state liars.”
The missing report now feels less like a casualty of the shutdown — and more like a convenient disappearance.
There’s growing speculation that the administration is using the shutdown as cover to keep bad economic news out of the headlines. With the labor market showing clear signs of cooling — slower hiring, rising unemployment, and softening wage growth — an ugly report could have added pressure to an already shaky narrative of economic strength.
Instead, the White House gets to say: Sorry, blame the shutdown.
As NOTUS reported, the situation marks a stark contrast to previous shutdowns, raising serious concerns about transparency and accountability. Economists, markets, and policymakers are now flying blind on one of the most basic indicators of the country’s economic health.
And the public? Left in the dark. Job seekers, business owners, and everyday workers trying to understand where things stand — all waiting on data that’s locked behind a political standoff.
If the report had good news, would it still be delayed? That’s the question quietly hanging over this situation — and it’s one the White House has yet to answer.
